RicohPro C900

Dhwanil Shah, director of X’press Images tells Somya Kedia how this colour production digital press has perked his firm’s productivity and profitability.

10 May 2013 | By PrintWeek India

Describe your business
X’press Images, which is a digital printing house, was established in the year 2002. The firm specialises in stationery, brochures and display printing. The Ricoh Pro C900 was installed two months ago and running alongside the Ricoh are two other digital printers. Besides digital printing, the firm also provides pre-press services and has recently installed a Basysprint CTCP. 

What does the machine do?
It is a digital colour production system which at lower operating costs executes full-colour applications. 
 
Why did you choose this particular machine?
We were impressed by both the speed and quality of the printer in comparison to our existing machine. It has increased our productivity by four times. 
 
Did you look at any other similar machines?
We looked at similar products like Xerox’s Docucolor and Canon Imagepress 7000VP.
 
What features do you particularly like?
The innovative sensors that adjust and compensate for minor colour shifts in the imaging process and the user-friendly, easy-to-read touch-screen, which makes program tasking quick. Besides, good print quality of this machine and cost were the other good things. It is helping us to drive down our costs and increase our profitability with good finish print job and less machine breakdowns. 
 
Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn’t?
Generally, all machines have a weakness. It’s the same with Ricoh Pro C900. It does not have the option for glossy finish, it’s pure matt. There’s also limited support for print on textured paper.
 
How fast is it?
The speed is 90ppm. The machine has made our job easy. It saves time. In the last two months we have printed over 1,70,000 sheets.
 
How reliable is it?
It is very reliable. There are no machine breakdowns. Also, it is possible to print 5,000 pages at one go without stopping jobs with the auto-link media trays.
 
What’s the quality like?
The quality is unsurpassed. Our clients are a satisfied lot and we have had not a single complaint from any one of them.
 
How much time or money has it saved?
It has driven down our time consumption. With cost and the expenditure on the machine, it has benefited us greatly. 
 
Has it won any new work?
Due to faster speed of the machine, the business has definitely increased. The rate of work has gone up by at least 10%.  
 
Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
Not much. We were not out of action at any stage. 
 
What about the pre- and after-sale service?
One of the key of benefits working with Ricoh has been the standard of service. Since this is the first machine, and the only one, we have one engineer at the shop floor constantly to aid us with any problem that may occur. 
 
Who do you think the machine is right for?
The machine delivers best in the production department. Minimum 75,000 plus pages per month are effortlessly produced. 
 
Under what circumstances would you buy another?
As an when there is increased workload, we would opt to purchase another machine.

Conclusion
User’s verdict
Speed 5/5
Quality5/5
Reliability 5/5
Value for money 4/5